Soy Yogurt Meant for Children Ends Up Feeding Pigs / Moises Leonardo Rodriguez

A bag of soy yogurt
A bag of soy yogurt

ARTEMIS, Cuba, Moises Leonardo Rodriguez — Soy yogurt, the sale of which is regulated and intended for children, was received in a spoiled state over the last two weeks in the outlets in the town of Cabañas. In the city of Mariel in the Artemisa province, in contrast, the opening of a new production plant for yogurt destined for Havana and Mayabeque provinces was just announced.

The regulated amount is three one-liter bags a week for every child between 7 and 12 years, replacing cow’s milk, the sale of which is restricted to children under age 7.

Many believe that the priority should be to ensure the technical means so that the product arrives in good condition, before producing more.

Ileana de los Ángeles Iglesias, speaking from Central Havana in the capital, said that the bags bought off the ration book in recent weeks were also spoiled.

A nutritionist, speaking on a recent National Television News broadcast, said that the product should be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, which appears to explain the deterioration of the yogurt during its delivery in unrefrigerated vehicles in hot weather months, as well as in the warehouses and places of sale.

On 11 August, the yogurt was sold outside the rationing system and a group bought dozens of bags to be fed to pigs, while the children are left waiting for a solution.

Cubanet, August 15, 2014 |

Batteries Disappear from Power Substations / Moises Leonardo Rodriguez

Subestación-Alta-Tensión_www.escambray.cu_-300x200Artemisa, Cuba –  The theft of batteries at five electrical substations in Artemisa province, at the risk of the thieves’ lives, was acknowledged by the weekly paper El Artemiseño, the official Communist Party organ in the province.

The batteries stolen in 2013 were from circuit breakers, called NULEC, in substations at Mariel, San Antonio de los Baños, Caimito and Artemisa, according to the report of the journalist Yailín Alicia Chacón, in the 11-17 February edition of the paper.

These batteries are for electric bicycles, musical equipment, and as back-ups (Uninterruptible Power Supplies) for personal computers, which are all very expensive in the State market. For example, the cost of an electric bike battery is 2,875 Cuban pesos (about $120 USD), and they only last about two years.

The director general of the provincial Power Company, Martín de la Concepción Cordero, acknowledged that, “There is still no solution for such outrages and unscrupulous attitudes of people who enter our facilities to take these batteries.”

This new type of theft is added to the theft of the aluminum cross beams of the high tension towers, traffic signs, railroad ties and others that endanger the lives of the perpetrators of the crime and/or third parties after their execution.

Cubanet, 17 February 2014, Moises Leonardo Rodriguez

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